The following articles offer arguments against the film, its euthanasia theme and the effort to conceal it:
• Michael Medved calls the film "insufferably manipulative."
• The review from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office of Film and Broadcasting appreciates the movie's skill and power but gives it a rating of "morally offensive."
• In the disability magazine Ragged Edge, Mary Johnson explains why "Million Dollar Baby" and another right-to-die film, "The Sea Inside," are dangerous.
• The National Spinal Cord Injury Association calls "Million Dollar Baby" "a brilliantly executed attack on life after spinal cord injury" and part of Eastwood's "disability vendetta."
• Not Dead Yet, an organization of disabled people opposing euthanasia, calls "widespread bias against people with severe disabilities" the only explanation for the movie's nominations.
• Los Angeles Times columnist Tim Rutten wonders why it's so necessary to keep the film's "secret."
There's no end of positive word on the film. Most reviews have been glowing, and the list of awards and nominations is lengthy. The following articles offer defenses specifically related to the controversy:
• Roger Ebert lashes out against critics who reveal the ending and those who object to characters making choices they don't agree with.
• New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wonders if we're going to boycott "Romeo and Juliet" now, too.
• Keith Kessler of the Disabled Action Committee offers an alternative point of view from the disability community.
So why is this all the concern of parents of children with special needs?
• However you feel about critics giving away the ending of movies, this is probably not a plot development we would want to have take us by surprise, particularly if our children are in the theater with us (not unlikely, considering the PG-13 rating and Rocky-like ad campaign). Armed with information, you can choose to avoid the film; to see it and discuss it with others from the perspective of an advocate for a child with disabilities; to keep your child away from it; or to take your child and use it as a basis for discussion.
• Like it or not, the way the general public perceives people with disabilities will have an impact on our children and their future. Arguably, the more euthanasia is presented as a right and a heroic choice, the less motivated society may be to make life tolerable for those who choose to live it. Our children, whether physically disabled or not, may require extensive and expensive care and treatment throughout their lives, and may always live in a way that others would consider unimaginable. Does it harm them to promote or even present the idea that some people are just better off dead? It's worth asking whether that's how this film may be perceived, even if the answer is no.
What's your opinion? Take our poll, then discuss the controversy in the Parenting Special Needs Forum.
